NFC Expert How to sign up for Samsung Pay
To use the payment system, you need to download the Samsung Pay app from Google Play. After installation, you can sign in to the app with your Samsung account and select the verification method – fingerprint or password.
Adding cards to the app is just as easy:
- In the Samsung Pay app, tap the “ ” button;
- Take a photo of the card from both sides or enter the data yourself;
- Accept the user agreement and confirm the registration of the card with the password sent via SMS from the bank;
- Create a signature – it should be the same as when making a card. The signature can be drawn with a stylus or a finger.
The signature may be needed by the seller for verification.
After that, the card can be used in all stores that accept cashless payments.
How to use Samsung Pay
You can use the Samsung Pay payment system both with new terminals that support contactless payment, and with old ones that work by swiping a card. In any case, try to unlock your phone in advance and log in to the application so as not to waste time next to the terminal.
Contactless payment terminals support Mastercard Pay Pass and Visa Pay Wave technologies – you can recognize them by the corporate logo. Notify the seller that you want to pay for the purchase with a card, then put your smartphone on the terminal screen and confirm the payment with a code or fingerprint. Wait for the beep and the release of the check.
If there are no identification marks of contactless payment technology on the terminal, MST technology comes into play, imitating the magnetic tape field of a plastic card. To use it, put your smartphone on the side of the terminal where the magnetic tape reader is located – and in a few seconds the purchase will be paid.
Gear S3 users can also use the app. To do this, you need to update the Gear S3 app and follow the instructions to add a map to your watch. After that, the card linked to the watch can be used – to do this, you need to press the “Back” button on the watch and bring it to the terminal.
Samsung Pay Security
This payment method, according to the developers themselves and the user experience, is convenient and completely safe. When paying with a plastic card, you give the terminal a PIN-code from which scammers can intercept. However, you do not need to transfer any card information to pay with a card registered with Samsung Pay.
The fact is that the application exchanges a token with the terminal – a one-time key generated for each new payment transaction. Even if the attackers succeed in intercepting the token, they will not be able to use it – the “expiration date” of the old key will already expire by the time of your next purchase.
In addition, the NFC model that allows contactless payments does not work if the smartphone is locked, so it is impossible to steal funds from a card linked to the phone.
If your phone is lost or stolen, no one but you can use Samsung Pay, as app and payment authorization requires a fingerprint or PIN. In addition, you can always lock your phone or completely delete information from it using the Find My Phone application. Also, all information on Samsung smartphones is recorded in the containers of the Samsung Knox application.
Samsung Pay and Apple Pay: Differences
Apple Pay is, in fact, a similar payment system for iOS devices, which appeared on the Russian market almost at the same time as the application from Samsung. Both applications immediately became popular with smartphone users in Russia. However, despite the almost identical concepts, Apple and Samsung payment systems have several significant differences.
Samsung Pay has gained popularity since its launch in Russia due to the fact that the South Korean company entered into an agreement with several Russian banks at once – among them Alfa-Bank, VTB 24, Raiffeisenbank and Russian Standard Bank. At the same time, at the start, only Sberbank cardholders received support for Apple Pay.
In addition, the range of Samsung devices that support the new payment system is much wider than that of Apple – among “apple” smartphones, Apple Pay can be installed on models released after 2014: iPhone 6/6 Plus/6s, 7, 7 Plus, iPhone SE, and Apple Watch.
Another important distinguishing feature of Samsung Pay is the MST module installed in South Korean smartphones. Apple gadgets are equipped with an NFC module that allows you to make contactless payments only. MST technology – Magnetic Secure Transition – imitates the magnetic field of a plastic card, so the terminal perceives a smartphone attached to it with Samsung Pay as a card rental. Therefore, Samsung Pay can be used even in stores without installing contactless payment terminals.
Sberbank
Sberbank customers were able to use the Samsung Pay service some time after the service was launched in Russia, in November 2016. Sberbank introduced a wide range of plastic cards that support the new service, including debit cards:
- World MasterCard Elite Sberbank 1,
- MasterCard World Black Edition Premier,
- World MasterCard Gold,
- MasterСard Platinum,
- MasterCard Gold,
- MasterCard Standard,
- MasterCard Standard Contactless,
- MasterCard Standard with custom design,
- Youth card MasterCard Standard,
- MasterCard Standard youth card with individual design;
And credit:
- MasterCard Gold,
- MasterCard Standard,
- Youth card MasterCard Standard.
Sberbank provides the service at no extra cost and no Internet connection.
VTB24
VTB24 cardholders were among the first to appreciate the benefits of Samsung Pay. At the same time, the “Superpayer” campaign was timed to coincide with the launch of the system. A team of “superpayers” discreetly paid for purchases from customers who lingered at the checkout, demonstrating how easy and convenient it is to pay with Samsung Pay. The application is supported by all VTB24 credit and debit cards. There is no fee for using the application.
Alfa-Bank
Since the end of September 2016, holders of Mastercard cards issued by Alfa-Bank have been able to use the Samsung Pay service, and since December 1 of the same year, Visa cardholders have joined them. At the same time, Alfa-Bank has introduced a convenient option that allows its customers to block a plastic card if it is lost using the Alfa-Mobile application and at the same time continue to use it through Samsung Pay.
The Samsung Pay payment system got off to a great start in the Russian market and continues to attract new users. The application of South Korean developers significantly outperforms the Apple application in terms of functionality due to a wide range of devices that support it, as well as the ability to conduct operations with terminals without contactless payment.